US Navy G-1 Flight Jacket, Ralph Edwards Sportswear MIL-J-7823C (WEP), c.1964-65, Atsugi & VP-48 Patches, Size 38

A mid-1960s US Navy G-1 by Ralph Edwards Sportswear in the scarce small size 38, its back carrying Japanese-embroidered patches of NAS Atsugi, Patrol Squadron 48 and the Pacific air routes.

From M-422 to the G-1

The G-1 is the US Navy's great leather flight jacket, and its lineage is one of the longest in military clothing. It began in March 1940 with the M-422, a goatskin jacket with a mouton collar and bi-swing back, revised as the M-422A in October 1940. Wartime production moved to the AN-J-3 and AN-J-3a patterns of 1943, and in 1949 specification 55J14 introduced the name G-1 to the label for the first time. In November 1951 the jacket was re-specified as MIL-J-7823, and that number, with its lettered revisions, carried it through the 1960s, 1970s and beyond.

Through all those changes the essentials stayed the same: soft goatskin, a mouton fur collar, a bi-swing back for freedom of movement, flapped patch pockets and knitted cuffs and waistband. The G-1 was a privilege garment, issued to qualified naval aviators and aircrew, and it became a badge of belonging as much as a piece of flight clothing.

The jacket also served as a rank of sorts. Enlisted men and officers alike prized it, but it was only issued to those on flight status, and a G-1 seen ashore told everyone that its wearer flew. That is part of why so many were kept, named, patched and handed down, and why collectors today read them so closely, label by label and contract by contract.

Ralph Edwards and the WEP Label

The label in this jacket reads JACKET, FLYING, MAN'S, INTERMEDIATE, TYPE G-1, SPEC. MIL-J-7823C (WEP), FSN 8415-268-7798, RALPH EDWARDS SPTSWEAR, INC., SIZE 38, with a contract number of the DSA-1 series that reads as DSA-1-8356; the final digits are slightly blurred. Ralph Edwards Sportswear succeeded the Cagleco name around 1959 to 1960, and became one of the principal G-1 makers of the following decade.

Collectors date a Ralph Edwards G-1 on contract DSA-1-9366 to fiscal year 1965, so this contract should fall around fiscal 1964 to 1965. The '(WEP)' suffix denotes the Bureau of Naval Weapons era of 1959 to 1966, and the 7823C revision predates the 1966 7823D change that first permitted synthetic mouton, so the collar here should be genuine sheepskin mouton. A mid-1960s MIL-J-7823C G-1 in size 38 is a genuinely scarce combination; small sizes were made in far smaller numbers and are keenly sought in Japan.

Contract numbers matter to G-1 collectors because they are the most reliable way of dating a jacket. The earlier N383 series of the Bureau of Aeronautics gave way in the 1960s to the DSA prefix of the Defense Supply Agency, and within each series the numbers rose year by year. A legible DSA-1 contract, a 7823C specification and the (WEP) suffix together form a consistent picture of a jacket made in the middle of the decade.

Patrol Squadron 48

One of the patches on the back is inscribed Patrol Squadron-48 and shows a pelican with a torpedo, the early insignia of VP-48. The squadron was established in May 1946 and flew the PBM Mariner and P5M Marlin flying boats before transitioning to the P-3 Orion. It made repeated Western Pacific deployments based at Iwakuni: from 29 May 1952, flying combat operations over Korea from 1 June that year; again in July 1953 and from 22 October 1957; and from 24 July 1967 to 31 January 1968. Its home ports were San Diego and North Island, then Moffett Field from February 1967, and it was disestablished on 23 May 1991.

Patrol aviation was the patient, unglamorous side of the Cold War Navy: long ocean surveillance flights, anti-submarine patrols and search and rescue, often flown from bases in Japan. A G-1 carrying a VP-48 patch belongs firmly to that world. We identify the squadron by the text on the patch; the wearer and his service are not documented.

The pelican-and-torpedo design on this patch reflects the squadron's early identity from the flying-boat era. Patrol squadrons revised their insignia over the years, and early designs such as this one are of particular interest to collectors of naval aviation patches.

Atsugi and the Pacific Crossroads

The Atsugi NAS Japan patch, with Mount Fuji, a torii and naval aviator-style wings, refers to Naval Air Station Atsugi in Kanagawa Prefecture, one of the principal US Navy air stations in Japan since the 1950s. A third patch reads NAS Air Terminal, US Pacific Fleet, Crossroads, with a map of the Pacific crossed by route lines and a four-engine transport. 'Crossroads of the Pacific' is the classic slogan of Hawaii, though we have not confirmed the specific air terminal, and the aircraft type is not identified with certainty.

The fourth patch, a bat with a searchlight beam over clouds and seven stars, has the look of a night or anti-submarine squadron insignia; the unit is unidentified. Together the four patches trace the trans-Pacific life of a naval airman in the 1950s and 1960s, moving between Hawaii, Japan and the patrol squadrons that flew from Japanese bases.

Japanese Embroidery on Navy Leather

The dense satin stitching and slightly faded colours of these patches are typical of the squadron patches made in Japan in the 1950s and 1960s. American personnel at Atsugi, Iwakuni and Yokosuka had insignia embroidered locally, often to a quality the official supply system could not match, and those Japanese-made patches are today collected in their own right. A G-1 decorated with them carries a little of Japan's own craft history on its back.

Collectors in Japan sometimes call such patches 'Japan-made' as a mark of quality rather than origin alone. They were typically embroidered on twill or felt with tightly packed satin stitches, often with chain-stitched outlines, and their colours have softened over sixty years in a way that is very difficult to imitate. On this jacket they sit together on the back, where a naval airman would have displayed the stations and squadrons that defined his service.

The G-1 After Top Gun

In 1986 Tom Cruise wore a patched G-1 in Top Gun and turned a privilege jacket into a civilian icon. Demand for originals has never really subsided since, and Japanese makers such as Buzz Rickson's and The Real McCoy's have built faithful reproductions of the Ralph Edwards and Cagleco patterns. The originals, particularly in small sizes with period Japanese patches, remain the benchmark.

The Piece

This is an original Ralph Edwards G-1 to MIL-J-7823C (WEP), in goatskin with a brown mouton collar, bi-swing back, flapped patch pockets, a brass zip and a nylon lining. The goatskin has taken on the soft, scuffed character of a jacket that was worn: there is colour loss at the sleeves and pocket edges and an abraded area on the right sleeve.

All four patches are on the back; no front patches are visible. They are the NAS Air Terminal US Pacific Fleet Crossroads patch, the Atsugi NAS Japan patch, the Patrol Squadron-48 pelican and an unidentified bat-and-searchlight squadron insignia, all in the Japanese-embroidered style of the period.

Size 38 is the detail that makes this jacket hard to replace. It suits a slimmer frame, roughly a Japanese M, and it is the kind of size that collectors in Japan can wait years to find in a 1960s Navy G-1 with a Japan story attached.

Details

• Type: US Navy Type G-1 intermediate flying jacket
• Maker: Ralph Edwards Sportswear, Inc.
• Contract / label: MIL-J-7823C (WEP), FSN 8415-268-7798, contract DSA-1-8356 (last digits slightly blurred)
• Era: c. fiscal 1964 to 1965
• Leather / shell: Goatskin, brown mouton collar
• Hardware: Brass zip (maker not legible), bi-swing back
• Lining & knits: Nylon lining; knit cuffs and waistband
• Decoration: Back patches: NAS Air Terminal US Pacific Fleet Crossroads, Atsugi NAS Japan, Patrol Squadron-48, unidentified bat squadron insignia
• Tagged size: 38
• Measurements: Shoulder 46 cm · Sleeve 60 cm · Length 61 cm (chest not recorded)

Condition

• Honest wear throughout, with scuffs and colour loss at sleeves and pocket edges
• Abraded area on the right sleeve
• Patches on the back only; one squadron unidentified
• Crossroads air-terminal base not confirmed
• Contract number's final digits slightly blurred

Condition grade B on the Japanese scale; see Japanese condition ranks, explained.

Authenticity & Care

The label, contract and size tags, leather, stitching, zip and hardware, paint and insignia are examined together and documented in Japan before dispatch; anything that cannot be confirmed is stated plainly in the description. Every piece carries the Japonista authenticity guarantee. Feed the goatskin sparingly with a neutral leather conditioner, keeping it clear of the embroidered patches and the mouton collar.

Delivery from Japan

Packed by hand in Japan and shipped insured and tracked by EMS or an equivalent express service. Import duties and taxes, where applicable, are payable on arrival. Every sale is final; please ask anything before you buy, and see our published policy.

Every figure above is taken by hand with the garment laid flat, in centimetres. Lay a shirt or jacket you already love beside them and allow a centimetre or two of margin, the quiet safeguard on a final sale. Our size guide to tops and jackets turns pit-to-pit figures into US, UK, EU and Japanese sizes, and for anything it leaves open the curator team replies within one Tokyo business day.

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